WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 65 million Americans have high blood pressure. Approximately 70 percent, many of whom may be receiving treatment, do not have their condition under control. In response, the American Nurses Association (ANA) is taking this public health crisis head-on by launching a free, 10-city blood pressure screening and public education initiative, “The American Nurses Association’s Take Action for Healthy Blood Pressure Tour.” The goal of the ANA is to change perceptions about high blood pressure through education and awareness.
The Tour is being supported by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, sponsor of the Take Action for Healthy BP (TAHBP) program. As part of the Tour, nurses in each city will screen, educate and counsel people, encouraging them to work with a health care professional to help set, achieve and maintain a healthier blood pressure goal. The ANA will communicate the latest and more stringent national guidelines developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, with input from the ANA. Nurses will share new facts about uncontrolled high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. The ANA will encourage people to take the condition more seriously, by highlighting information about the dangers of high blood pressure, such as the damage it can cause to blood vessels leading to the eyes, heart, brain and kidneys. Additionally, the ANA will stress that even slight elevations in blood pressure increase the risk for heart attack or stroke.
“High blood pressure is an under-recognized national public health crisis -- the time to act is now,” said Barbara Blakeney, MS, RN, President of the American Nurses Association. “Ultimately, we want to change the way people think about their high blood pressure. Through education and awareness we want to emphasize that this is a serious condition and help them do a better job of managing it. The public needs to know that although high blood pressure often has no symptoms, it may be causing damage today, which may lead to serious health consequences. That’s why it’s so important for individuals to work closely with a health care professional to address high blood pressure as soon as it is diagnosed.”
The ANA will kick off its national tour in New York City on Sept. 23, 2004, with the unveiling of a customized, educational bus featuring eye-catching images and information about the Tour and blood pressure. In addition to the screening events, attendees will have the opportunity to win home blood pressure monitors donated by Omron Heath Care. Having a home monitoring device encourages people with high blood pressure to regularly monitor their blood pressure between visits with their health care professionals. In fact, a recent study showed monitoring blood pressure at home, between health care professional office visits, is linked to better high blood pressure control. Over the next 10 weeks, the Mobile Unit will visit Philadelphia, Boston, Minneapolis, Seattle, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Houston, Tampa and Atlanta.
Quote to be confirmed:
“As registered nurses, one of the many services that we provide is blood pressure measurement. Nurses are often the first to realize that an individual’s blood pressure is elevated and, therefore, have the greatest opportunity to educate people about the seriousness of uncontrolled high blood pressure and importance of addressing it immediately,” said an ANA representative. “The American Nurses Association’s Take Action for Healthy Blood Pressure Tour screening events provide yet another venue for us to interact with and educate the public on the immediate andreal-life dangers of even slightly elevated blood pressure.”
During the Tour, nurses will inform patients that the latest and more stringent national guidelines define normal blood pressure for most adults as less than 120/80 mm Hg and that prescription medication and other lifestyle modifications may be recommended when blood pressure is greater than or equal to 140/90 mm Hg. The ANA will educate people with a systolic blood pressure of 120-139 mm Hg or a diastolic blood pressure of 80-89 mm Hg that they are considered pre-hypertensive and require healthful lifestyle modifications to prevent cardiovascular disease.
To learn more about the Tour please visit http://www.healthybloodpressure.org/, or http://www.nursingworld.org/. For information on the latest national guidelines for blood pressure, http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/hypertension/media_kit.htm. For information on the Take Action for Healthy BP program, sponsored by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., go to http://www.healthybp.com/.
About The ANA
The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation’s 2.7 million Registered Nurses (RNs) through its 54 constituent member associations. The ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. The ANA’s participation in Take Action for Healthy BP is solely educational and does not imply the organization’s endorsement of any specific medication, equipment or company.
Press Contacts: ANA Ruder Finn Joan B. Meehan-Hurwitz/Carol Cooke Sarah Chapin 202.651.7020/202.651.7027 212.593.6393
American Nurses Association
CONTACT: Joan B. Meehan-Hurwitz, +1-202-651-7020, or Carol Cooke,+1-202-651-7027, both of the American Nurses Association; or Sarah Chapin ofRuder Finn, +1-212-593-6393, for the American Nurses Association
